the remains or physical evidence of an organism preserved by geological process
fossil
the theory that continents move and were once part of a continent called Pangaea
plate tectonics
the trace or remains of an organism preserved by geological process
fossil
the name for continents in one landmass surrounded by gigantic ocean
Pangaea
event that may be caused by extreme changes in climate
mass extinction
What physical feature allows primates to grip and hold on to things.
opposable thumbs
Recent hominids include
Homo sapiens and Neanderthals
This primate is also the first hominid estimated to have lived over 3 million years ago.
autralopithecines (Lucy)
This allows primates to see in three dimensions
binocular vision
Name the four main primate groups
apes and chimpanzees
hominids
lemurs
monkeys
the standard method of dividing Earth's long history into parts
geologic time scale
a timeline of life provided by the remains or imprints of dead organisms
fossil record
any method of determining whether an event or object is older or younger than others.
relative dating
This era had the greatest mass extinction event in which 90% of all life on earth was destroyed.
Paleozoic
The era we live in today
Cenozoic
Name of the scientist that identified the mechanism for which all life changes and adapts over long periods of time - mirroring chagnes in geologic time.
Darwin
This theory explains the process by which organisms become well-adapted to their environment.
natural selection
The fact that all organisms have DNA as their genetic material is evidence that
all organisms decended from a common ancestor
Groups of individuals of the same species living in the same place
population
a group of organisms that can mate with one another to produce fertile offspring
species
When a single population evolves into 2 populations that cannot interbeed anymore
speciation
A group of organisms that can mate with each other to produce offspring
species
A skeletal feature that whales have that are evidence that it decended from land animals
hip bones
This feature of the Galapogos finches is very unique.
beak
Populations of insects can quickly adapt to insecticides because this is very short in them
generation time